Welfare Note: Files, Files, & Files

On occasion, questions arise regarding the various files with employee-specific information kept by the College. It is important the each faculty member know what is in his or her own personnel file. Our CBA speaks to at least five different types of files at the College that may contain information about a specific faculty member. Of particular note are your personnel file kept in HR, which you can review by request, the Working files and the Temporary files that kept within the division. There tends to be a Working file on each full-time faculty member. This file may be referred to as a division file, or Dean’s, Associate Dean’s or Director’s file and are maintained throughout the assignment of that faculty member to that division. Temporary files tend to be event specific. Depending on the event, the CBA may define some limits to keeping these files. These are addressed in several different sections of the agreement.

If you have not yet taken the opportunity to review the contents of your personnel file in the Human Resources Office, the Welfare Committee encourages you to consider doing so. Your right to review this file and the parameters within which the review may occur are detailed in section C. 10 PERSONNEL FILES.

When a file contains information that the faculty member wishes to dispute, the Welfare Committee encourages each of you to first, review our CBA for relevant sections and discuss your concerns with the administrator responsible for the file. The conversation with the administrator may result in resolution of the concerns. You may also wish to discuss your concerns with any member of the Welfare Committee or Grievance Sub-Committee. Finally, our CBA (section C. 10.1 CONTENTS) provides for a mechanism to rebut the contents of “supervisory memos and correspondence” placed into the files, if necessary.